What Could Have Been
by GryffindorNay
Summary: A series of drabbles featuring what could have been memorable Percabeth moments. Canon, PJATO and HoO
1. No Detours

**This one takes place in between the lines on pages 172-173 of The Last Olympian. I kinda manipulated the scene a bit.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

_"Thank the gods," Annabeth said. "But if we don't blockade the rivers from those boats, guarding the bridges and tunnels will be pointless."_

_"You're right," I said._

And she was right. I- we needed to take care of that problem immediately. But first-

"We need a hot ride, something to get around town with," I said. The other campers were busy preparing for battle. Last minute things, like fixing their armor and saying farewell and praying to whatever gods would listen. Unlikely that their prayers would be answered, but you couldn't not pray. They had to try. I looked around, searching for something we could borrow. Something small enough to maneuver around the cars and fast enough to get us there quickly. I had to stop the water invasion.

"Over here, Seaweed Brain." Good old Annabeth. She found a shiny red Vespa parked in front of a car a few yards away. We gently removed the woman driver, laying her to rest on the comfy sidewalk.

"Hey, how come you get to take something and not us?" I heard Connor Stoll call to me from the crowd. He sounded like a little kid whining about getting a new toy.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "We're just borrowing this to save the sake of humanity and all things dear to you. Any other questions?"

I detached the helmet from the woman. It was bright pink, with purple and orange flowers painted all over it. There was no contest on who was going to wear it.

"Annabeth," I called her over. As soon as she saw the helmet she started shaking her head.

"No way," she rolled her eyes.

"Come on. Please, for me? Just for a second."

She sighed and somehow didn't resist, which was a miracle. I set the helmet down on her blonde curls, patting the top.

"I don't need a helmet," she argued.

She tilted her head back though, and I fastened the straps under her chin. She had a pretty nice neck, which was a weird thought. My hands were more steady than I thought they would be. My fingertips grazed the skin exposed there. The inside of my stomach was tumbling and turning like a leaf in the wind.

"Maybe I just want to protect your pretty head," I said matter of factly. She didn't comment on that, but she didn't resist either. It was a good thought.

I noticed it was completely silent. I looked up, and noticed most of the demigods staring at us, a few snickering. I decided to ignore them, turning my embarrased face back to the Vespa. I begin to slide on when I feel Annabeth grab my arm.

"What?"

"I want to drive."

"Annabeth," I started, but she stopped me.

"Come on. I'm a better driver than you, my dad owns one just like this. I know how to work it," she bickered.

Partly because I couldn't deny her much and partly because the world was ending, I decided to let her drive. She slid in the front, and I got on behind her, holding her waist.

_I looked at the campers, all of them grim and determined. I tried not to feel like this was the last time I'd ever see them all together._

_"You're the greatest heroes of this millennium," I told them. "It doesn't matter how many monsters come at you. Fight bravely and we will win." I raised Riptide and shouted, "FOR OLYMPUS!"_

I must've looked pretty ridiculous, giving a speech and words of encouragement from the back of a bright red scooter. I had to lean backwards so I could lift my sword and her flowery helmet was hitting my forehead. But they took the call, and we defended our turf.

Later in the midst of the battle, I could see Annabeth in the distance, still sporting the pink helmet with the purple and orange flowers on it. And the sight brought a real smile to my face.


	2. Winter Solstice

**I don't read Percy Jackson fanfiction at all. I read some really awesome one-shots, but I stay clear of this fandom. Everytime I think I'm ready to read it, I choose one to look at and become scarred for life. Gods, what is up with these horrible Annabeth at Goode Highs and Capture the Flags. The worst, by far, are the readings of the books. Usually they're just a way to highlight Percy's achivements, but he just comes off as an arrogant douche. And no words can truly describe how disgusted I was with "Perlia". She's a friggin eternal maiden for crying out loud!**

* * *

Looking back, I can't even tell you what we were arguing about in the first place. Maybe I said something about Luke, and she got defensive. I don't know why, at this point Luke was so far gone nothing could save him. I hear Hades has a.. erm... special assignment for him down in the Fields of Punishment, should Olympus win the war. Besides, I thought she pretty much hated Luke's guts. Maybe she was mad because she wasn't getting all the attention for once, but I'm just being petty. I know she's not shallow, it's not her fault nearly everything is about her. Or, at least it was. Or maybe I'm overthinking it and she was just having a bad day, right before her birthday no less.

But on the winter Solstice, in front of the Council of the Gods, Thalia Grace looked like she wanted to kill me.

"You, you, you jerkface!" She cried angrily. I knew I was in trouble if she couldn't even properly think of names to call me.

I was pretty mad too. I raised my eyebrows. "That's the best you can come up with? Jerkface?"

"Ugh, Percy, why does everything have to be about you, you arrogant lard? Don't you take anything seriously?"

She wanted to play this card. "About me? About me? Do you think I want this prophecy to be about me? And that's pretty hypocritical of you to call me arrogant. Chiron even told me that you were too sure of yourself. Last time I checked, when you thought this prophecy was all about you, you sure hesitated to pick the right side!"

I didn't even get the last word out when she slapped me so hard, I fell to the ground. She managed to even shock me, not enough to kill me but enough to sting. I'm sure sparks flew when her hand-made contact with my cheek.

I heard the gasps from the shocked campers, and a few murmurings from the gods. I waited, sure they were going to incinerate Thalia to ashes. Come on, she interrupted the council, which was mainly just a war meeting that year. True, the council was just about wrapping up, but still. She's disrespecting the gods in their own home, in front of their faces. I was positive she was going to die, and probably me with her. Most of them wanted me dead anyway. The gods would likely say it was an accident, their aim was a little off and they took out two demigods instead.

I sat there, shirt smoking a little, waiting for the real smoke and fire to come, and nothing. I looked up, and the gods weren't angry, or shocked. Some held faint disinterest, like Demeter and Dionysus. Some waited with greedy anticipation, like they were excited to see some sparks (hehe) in the otherwise dull and anxious council. Zeus looked pleased. Only my Dad looked like he wanted to turn Thalia into a water beetle and crush her in his palm. But Zeus raised his hand, signalling him to wait.

The campers were snickering now, and the humiliation was mounting. Now she wasn't merely disrespecting the gods; she was disrespecting me. I could feel the anger rising like waves, the blood rushing to my head. I don't get mad very often, and almost never with my friends. Sure I got irritated at times, mainly with a certain blonde-haired daughter of Athena, but this... I wanted Thalia to pay for embarrassing me.

I slowly stood up, making sure to pat out the tiny fires that started on my shirt. Fist clenched, I took deep breaths. I'm sure I was shaking with anger by then.

She took a small step back. To some, it would seem she was scared. But I knew she was preparing to whip out her spear and run it through me, giving herself some room to attack.

"I... don't... hit... girls," I said, through clenched teeth. An icicle rose out of Bessie's cage. About the size of a small tree, it dripped menacingly. Bessie batted at it with her hooves. It shot like a bullet towards Thalia, whistling through the air like a fighter jet. At the last second, I released my fists. Instead of impaling her skull, the icicle doused her in water. She was soaked from head to toe, looking like a very wet and very angry black cat.

She shivered, electricity shuddering on her body. "You froze my circuits Kelp Head!" she shook her hair, the droplets hitting my shirt and rolling off.

"Oops," I said, not really caring at all.

She activated her spear, and I quickly pulled Riptide out. Seemed like we were doing the diplomatic approach. Fine by me. I never said I didn't swordfight with girls.

I heard the campers backing up, giving us room. I really don't know what my mindframe was back then, I just had a mission: to not get cut into ribbons by Thalia's spear.

"How delightful. The Godlings putting on a show," Hades muttered.

She wasted no time, stabbing at me with her spear. I easily deflected her jab with my sword. After that, it was on.

I hated myself for it, but there was Luke, in my head, egging me on.

"If you've got the shorter blade, get in close," he said. I took his advice at least, and took a step forward, swiping at her leather jacket. Fortunately, I left a nice sized rip in the black leather. Unfortunately, she kept backing up when I stepped forward. She must have been taking Luke's advice too.

She stabbed again, and I side-stepped her, slicing down. She was fast, I'll give her that, but out of training with her spear. After joining the hunters, I guess she became more accustomed to bow-and-arrow. And she didn't have her lightning as an advantage. I remember her on The Mountain of Despair; telling Luke how he could never beat her in a fight.

In a matter of minutes, I had her backed up against the wall. I disarmed her by twisting the hilt of her spear until it clattered to the ground. In seconds I had the tip of my sword digging into her neck.

Silence. The throne room was silent. That's why I was able to sense her coming, although my body was so attuned to hers that I could sense her in a noisy crowd.

I smirked. This just got so much more fun.

Turning around, I met her first swipe. She was really skilled with the knife, I noticed. She could defend herself against a three-foot sword with a foot long dagger. She had been taught well.

Everyone seemed to be listening to Luke today. She got in close, and that was my downfall. It's been a while since we were this close, since she even acknowledged me at all to be honest. She smelled really good. Pretty soon, I was matching Thalia on the wall.

Annabeth had the knife against my throat. "Any last words Seaweed Brain?"

I cleared my throat as best as I could with a knife poking into my neck. I would've said something awesome, but just managed to embarrass myself even further by squeaking (yes squeaking) out "You're pretty."

Her eyes flashed dangerously, and she slashed down, cutting my... shirt.

The campers snickered as she stalked away. I looked up to the gods. Aphrodite gave me a thumbs-up and made the hand motions for 'follow her'. I shrugged.


	3. Sally Finds Out

**This isn't one of my faves, but here we go.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Ps. I love you guys.**

* * *

Annabeth and I walked down the hallway to my home, our hands swinging all the way. She was in an incredibly good mood that day. Not trying to sound arrogant, but I hoped it was about me. Usually when camp was over for the summer, a camper wasn't exactly happy (at least that's how it felt for me). I knew some demigods who didn't really have a home, didn't go home to their human mom or dad. To them, this was just a time when camp got really boring. But if you lived with your mortal parent, then it was a bit bittersweet to be back home. Sweet because, if your Mom was awesome like mine, then you were probably pretty excited to be back home with her. No temperamental yet lazy gods, no dangerous and frightening quests, and nothing supernatural (unless you were extremely unlucky, or it was an emergency). Topping it off with canned coke at your immediate disposal, and you might never want to come back to Camp Half-Blood.

But it was also quite bitter. Camp was the one place you could practice your talents, and train to survive. You felt like you belonged there, you weren't an outcast or a freak. You got to hone your talents instead of hide them. We were all one big Olympic family. This summer, which was the best and worst one of my life, was especially hard to leave. So many ground-breaking new things had happened. We had each other's back, worked together in ways I never could have imagined. We all saved each other's lives at one point, we all saved the world. Even Clarisse, who I never really liked yet never really hated, had earned my permanent gratitude, friendship, and respect for slaying that drakon. Us campers became undeniably closer through the war. Leaving that had been like leaving home.

Annabeth was happy, and though we just got released from camp, I was happy too. Ever since we started dating, her emotions and mine were in synch. What do they call it? The honeymoon phase? Marriage was waaaayyyy far down the road, but that was the best I account it to.

We stopped in front of my door, still holding hands. I hoped mine weren't sweaty.

"My mom's not home yet." I told her. It's not like we were hiding our relationship or anything. My mom would probably be overjoyed to find out I have a girlfriend. She'll be even more excited since it's Annabeth. But Annabeth and I hadn't had much alone time. Camp had been anything but private. Was it a crime that I wanted to kiss her in peace?

She raised her eyebrows and gestured to the doors. "Well..."

She wanted to go inside. I had my hand on the doorknob, but I was stopped. First things first-

I smirked. "Hold on." And without further ado, I placed one hand on her shoulders and one hand on her waist and I kissed her.

I will never, ever get tired of kissing her. Back when things were.. erm... difficult between us, we couldn't even be in the same room together. I didn't know whether I would live to the next day, let alone how she felt about me. Sure, I wondered, but she was such a forbidden mystery. Now I could kiss her whenever I felt like it (which was a lot). From her reactions, I could tell she felt like it too. Her lips tasted like caramel from the caramel apples we had on our way here. Her hands tightly gripped my shoulders and I think I think I think I just might be falling...

"Perseus Jackson!" It was my mother's shocked voice. Startled, Annabeth got behind my back, I didn't know if she was hiding or what.

I looked up and saw my Mother and Paul standing in the doorway, both wearing looks of surprise on their faces. They held a blue birthday cake in between them, a big square sheetcake with happy 16th birthday Percy written in bright blue cursive, or at least that's what I thought it said. I completely forgot that my Mom would likely be home to celebrate my sixteenth birthday, especially since I told her the formerly super secret and dangerous prophecy and she was grateful I lived to the big one six. She completely caught me off guard.

"Mom! You're home early." I said with a really squeaky sounding laugh.

She had one hand on her hip now, and an odd twinkle in her eye. "Was that just Annabeth? And my Percy? Kissing?"

I prayed to whomever that Annabeth put her invisibility cap on. I scoffed. "Annabeth? Mom are you losing it? She's probably at home being annoying or something." I felt her punch my back, right on top of my Achilles spot. I turned around and gestured to the empty air for emphasis.

If we escaped hundreds of monsters, surely we could escape this right?

I walked in the apartment, making sure I held the door open a little longer so she could sneak in. I tried to divert my mom's attention. "Aww, a birthday cake for me Mom? You shouldn't have, honestly. And Paul, thanks a million guys." I walked in a little farther. "Geez, it's really good to be home. It's been crazy this summer Mom. Just let me wash up, then we can eat cake."

We were so close, but so far away. I knew my Mom saw Annabeth and I, she's not blind or dumb. But I guess I was hoping she could, I don't know, pretend or something. She's really generous with that type of thing. But then, I forgot. This is Annabeth.

"Freeze Annabeth." My mom said sternly. Dang, I thought it worked.

At first nothing. Then there she was, right next to me, with a matching blush.

Paul smiled. "Took you long enough Percy."


	4. Spider Crime

**Gods, I love this fic. It's an indulgence, honestly. Every time I'm bored I just work on it. I don't think it will ever feel like a chore to me.**

**This is one of my favorites... enjoy!**

* * *

We were in the rec room, having one of our many war meetings. This one I remember particular details about. For one, there was definitely something going on with Travis and Katie. Annabeth smelled like strawberries that day. Silena had gotten Clarisse to wear lip gloss (Clarisse actually looked nice and not her usual Im-about-to-kill-you). Annabeth had cut her nails short, and painted them lime green. It actually rained at camp; only a light drizzle. Annabeth had her long blonde hair in a bun. We lost three campers to Kronos. Annabeth looked like... well you get the idea.

Malcolm had just finished speaking. Since there were so few of us, Chiron had allowed a few extra campers from each cabin instead of just senior counselors. The ping-pong tables were packed, all of us in these leather swivel chairs like we were discussing economics and not where to effectively jab a monster to kill them with one Athena cabin had gone on a monster raid last night and were looking a little tired. Malcolm finished relaying what happened during the attack.

Annabeth was typing on Daedulus's laptop, the gods know what. She hadn't looked up since the meeting began. I tried to peek over her shoulder and snoop at what she was doing until she gave me a death glare so powerful I thought I would shrivel up and die on the spot.

Happy days.

The meeting was nearly over. I was about to head over to sword-fighting when Annabeth... went nuts. Like really crazy.

She shrieked like a wild banshee and started flailing her arms. I might've laughed if it wasn't for the look of pure terror on her face. Before I knew it she was in my lap and still flailing.

"Sp-spuh.. laptop.. jumped.. get.. get.. get!" she started breathing heavily.

I put my hands on her stomach in an attempt to calm her down. She almost elbowed me in the face a few times.

"What is it?"

"There's... a.. spider.. laptop... climbed." I managed to get the gist of what she was saying and sure enough there was a spider on the screen of her laptop. That sucker was huge, it's body the size of a half-dollar coin. The Athena's started backing up and hyperventilating. I swore Malcolm was about to start crying.

Just as I was about to take care of the situation, I saw it. Another one. You know that moment in scary movies, when the camera glances at a room, flashes somewhere else and when it shows the same room again it's like BAM, monster. You stare at space and then something comes up in your peripheral and you focus in on it. All of a sudden what wasn't there is there. Seeing the second spider was just like that. I was even scared for a moment.

It climbed upside-down along a thread of web. You could see it crawl, it's spindly little white legs just pawing at the air while it got lower and lower and I could just feel an itch on my arm...

For a split second, I could see what was so scary about spiders. Those things were just creepy man.

Annabeth saw the thing and slumped off my lap and onto the floor, groaning. At this point, the Athena's were either outside the door peeking in, or crying backed up against the wall. The other campers were torn between amusement, curiosity, and a little fear. The children of Athena were the most composed, serious, and smartest half-bloods at camp. To think a couple of spiders could tear that all down...

I was about to bend down to check that Annabeth was still conscious when she grabbed on the hem of my shorts for dear life and shrieked "Kill... it.. KILL IT!"

Startled, I reached in my pocket for tissues I kept there. I opened them up to fit the palm of my hand. Careful not to damage her laptop, I swiped the first one. The second one was way harder. That white sucker was smart, scurrying almost out of my reach. I managed to crush it, wiping and leaving a trail of grime in it's wake. I slumped back in my chair. Mission accomplished.

Done.

I pulled Annabeth from the ground and back into my arms. She was shaking.

"There were two spiders."

"Yes. Eight legs and everything," I said.

"Sixteen."

"I know."

"Did you get it?" she asked quietly.

"Yup," I said. I showed her the remains of One and Two and she flinched, our heads nearly touching as we studied it. Two's legs were still twitching. She groaned and thumped her head on my shoulder.

"Meeting Adjourned," Chiron said, looking very much his two thousand years. Campers started filtering out, glancing back at me and Annabeth. I didn't care that we were breaking camp rules, being alone and all. Chiron looked like he wanted to say something about her being on my lap but come on, I was comforting here. It wasn't like we were going to do anything.

Soon we were alone. I tightened my hold on her as she breathed on my neck.

The feeling was like when I rescued Bessie. Annabeth was far from damsel in distress (I'm not sure I want her to be one) but it was nice to feel needed every now and then. I may have only been 15 but would you believe it if I told you it was a man thing? Maybe even something bigger. A human thing.

Later, when we had gone out in the rain, she even let me give up my hoodie so she wouldn't get wet. It was well worth the looks and knowing whispers that followed us around our lessons.


	5. Mini Golf Mishaps

**Gods.. this one made me lol so much guys... I was giggling while I was typing.**

**Note: These drabbles (more like one-shots at this point) aren't together as a whole. One doesn't affect another so to speak; if one takes place, then the others didn't in that scenario. Percy says in canon that they didn't really speak that whole year and this is sticking to canon sooo I can't have a dozen or so happy-time speaking moments between them can I?**

* * *

"What's all this?" Annabeth asked, gesturing to the mess in my room from my swirly chair.

"Oh, Rachel did it. She's trying to set up a mini-golf course in my room," I said. Artists and their crazy ideas...

"No wonder it's messier than usual," she grinned at me.

"Hey, she tried to get me to clean it! But I convinced her it would be cooler if my room wasn't cleaned," I called from my spot on the bed. I loved how easy things were between us now. Not just me and Annabeth, but Rachel too. Annabeth didn't seem so tense around her; it was like she was finally noticing all the nice qualities I enjoyed in Rachel. Though she didn't know about that kiss...

"What's the answer to number twelve?" I asked her. She had been helping me with my Geometry homework. Annabeth was brilliant with angles and shapes and stuff like that. RIght now she was skimming through my textbook while I attempted to wrangle the answer from her to transcribe onto paper.

"That's a pretty bad way to ask for help," she mumbled, not even looking up from the problems.

What is it with girls and cheating? It's not like this was going to help me in real life - though if I told Annabeth that she'd probably scold me. Okay, this stuff was important for her as an architect, but there weren't many opportunities besides it. And it wouldn't affect my life anyhow - the life of a demigod.

I threw my homework aside. If I asked her for help, she would go into a lengthy explanation that wouldn't help me understand it at all. Annabeth was great and all, but when she tried to explain things she was passionate about, information tended to get lost in translation. What was one more missing homework assignment?

She picked up a golf club. "DId you play with her yet?"

"No," I said, getting up from my post on the bed. "She isn't done setting up. Did you know she got these clubs for five bucks?"

She was brandishing it now, looking at it most peculiarly. "Sturdy."

"I know. They're pretty heavy." I picked up two and hit them together. The clang was familiar - not always pleasant, but familiar all the same. "What does that remind you of?"

She smiled, standing up.

I bowed to her. Then it was on.

It was absolutely hilarious. We were both clumsier than usual, and I slipped on a pen more than once. The satisfying metal clang of two weapons hitting together with force rang out in the room over and over again. At one point she pushed me so hard with the head of her driver that I fell backwards into adjacent (haha learned something from geometry) piles of dirty clothes that Rachel fixed.

But I was up again. It was refreshing, fighting with her physically (not arguing... that sucked actually). There was a pull between us -always present- that got stronger when we fought. It brought us closer surprisingly.

I don't know what happened then. One second I was pushing her backwards with my metal golf club; the next, she grabbed me by the front of my shirt and we both fell onto the bed... and her lips were on mine...

… and the clubs were all forgotten. All that mattered was that her lips were both soft and firm somehow... that her hand was grasping the fabric on the back of my shirt so tightly... that her tongue tasted like watermelon... that the skin on the small of her back was so very warm... that somewhere, in the distance, someone was calling my name...

"Percy!" Paul's outraged voice pulled us out of our little bubble.

I quickly rolled away from her and looked to the door. There was Paul, my stepdad, with an unreadable expression on his face. I thought he would scold me - instead, he sighed. "I guess it's time. I didn't want to have to do this."

Do.. do what?

"Come to the living room. We - your mom and I - need to talk to you. And you too of course, Annabeth." He firmly shut the door.

I groaned into my hands. I really did not want to go back out there. To face my mom and stepdad who... oh gods... caught me making out with my girlfriend. One look at Annabeth's bright red face told me we were on the same page. But it looked like we had no choice. While I'd rather go head first with the Minotaur than have to face my parents, looked like there was no getting out of this.

I let her walk in front of me. "Ladies first."

My mom and Paul were sitting in the living room, looking at us expectantly. We chose the long sofa, sitting as far away from each other as possible. The air was tense.

"Percy, Annabeth. We would like to talk."

I looked at her. Go on.

"Now, I know you two are... growing older. Seems like just yesterday you were at Yancy Academy Percy," my mom smiled at me. It didn't make me feel better. "I know you two... are having... urges. Just promise us that you're being safe. Please." She looked at us with that caring, I-will-understand smile.

What did she mean being careful? I was always careful when I went on quests. Well, not always, but I was still alive wasn't I? And urges... I pondered... _wait_... she couldn't... didn't possibly mean-

Annabeth's groan confirmed it. Oh my gods. We were getting the _talk_.

My face turned shade of red she hasn't seen since I was thirteen.

"Mom. Please. Just no. I really.. just no." I shake my head. It's been a while since I'd been this embarrassed.

She smiled that smile again.

Paul spoke up "Percy, we're just doing this for your safety and our sanity. You know I teach at Goode. I see the consequences of these things everyday happen to my student. I don't want that to happen to you or Annabeth."

Annabeth put her head in her hands. Paul needed to stop talking.

He kept going, and it got worst. "If you could just ease our minds. We know you two are too old for us to... restrain you. But if you could please just tell us your being safe. In fact, I could give you some protec-"

"Oh my gods, please stop," I pleaded, cutting him off.

My mom was still smiling. "We know this is embarrassing, but it is necessary. You two have a whole future ahead of you."

"Mom... please... we've been dating for two months."

Annabeth still hadn't resurfaced. My mom took it as a bad sign. "I hope you guys tell us as soon as possible if something happened. We won't be mad at you for it."

"Mom. Annabeth and I... haven't... so yeah."

"Oh," My mom looked relieved. "_Oh_."

Paul smiled this time. "Now was that so hard Percy?"


	6. New Kid

**This one didn't turn out the way I expected it. I wasn't able to write the story down when I first got the idea, so it's not like I pictured it in my head. I hope you enjoy it, though.**

**I really love writing this fic. I feel like I'm writing for me, for once. So while it would be cool to get hundreds of reviews, that's not my goal. I'm pretty content. But the few reviews I get really make my day :)**

* * *

For the first time ever, I got into a fist fight at Camp Half-blood.

A new kid had arrived at camp. It was a busy time, more hectic than usual. Everybody was either running around making last-minute weapons or out fighting in the mortal world. We had just lost three campers to a slew of she-demons and their deaths fueled us to our victories. The new kid didn't get the proper introduction into the world of gods and monsters.

I didn't really think much of him either. He was sorta tall, had slick blonde hair and this weird look in his eyes. You could tell he was smarter than he looked. He also looked kinda like Luke (Pre-Kronos-living-inside-Luke's-body Luke at least. Nevermind- Pre-Kronos Luke, period), which made me a little sick to my stomach. But I finished my pizza and thought about the mission I was about to go on tomorrow and didn't spare him another thought that night.

Over the next few days, my feelings of unease didn't subside. His personality wasn't admirable at all. He was incredibly arrogant, mean-spirited, and proud for a new dude. The few campers who tried to help him around, who tried to at least make his stay comfortable, were taken aback at his behavior. I heard he even snapped at a little Apollo girl and made her cry. I was puzzled when I found out. When I was new here, I felt scared, disbelieving, and had a need to be accepted. He was acting the total opposite of that, and I wondered why. I stopped those thoughts quickly though. I had to focus on my fighting. It was more important. Even Clarisse hadn't had the opportunity to properly welcome him.

No, I really started paying attention when he took a special interest in Annabeth.

He was particularly mean to her, and he bullied her. In the beginning, Annabeth just ignored it and went on with her work. She wasn't one to cave in and I knew she didn't take what he said to heart. She was strong.

Then he started getting personal.

I don't know how, but he found out about a lot of stuff that happened before he arrived at camp and used it against her. He threw all her failures and quirks back in her face, which I knew upset her immensely. Her pride was wounded. I was going to take care of him until Annabeth harshly told me not to. She said she was 'tired of me always trying to be the hero' which hurt my feelings. I was just trying to protect her. We got into this huge fight and I didn't talk to her for a few days.

On his last night at camp, I saw him bump into Annabeth, the force knocking her to the ground. He had to do it on purpose.

My fists tightened. Who did this punk think he was? I had to fight the instinct to go over there and handle it. Annabeth and I weren't speaking, I reminded myself..

"Excuse you? Stay out of my way!" She yelled, bringing unwanted attention to both of them.

He sneered down at her. "Stop following me around you wouldn't get hurt. I know you think you're all superior, but newsflash- you're no better than me."

She quickly stood up, sporting her 'Say one more thing and I'll gut you' look.

"Are you delusional? Why would I be following you around?" She spit in his face.

"Ugh! For a daughter of Athena you are the stupidest girl I have ever met. Do you have olives for brains?"

She pulled out her knife swiftly and held it over his chest. He cackled, not even bothering to pull our his recently issued sword.

"You think you can flash your pretty little knife around and scare me? You can't, little girl. You don't have it in you. Oh, what would Luke think?" At this point, I was biting on my knuckles. How did this jerk know about Luke?

I saw her hand tremble the slightest and I knew she didn't have it in her. He looked too much like Luke and what he said to her hit a little close to home. I knew it was up to me.

He got encouraged. "Yeah, that's right. I know all about you and Luke. How you used to dote on him like a sick puppy. How you abandoned him when he needed you most. How you think about him everyday, still hung up him." His voice got lower, more menacing, as I crept forward. "What's holding you back Blondie? Is it Jackson? You can't stand to leave him either, can you? You should learn to make up your mind, you little who..-" I punched him dead in the nose, knocking him to the ground as he yelled, his nose already gushing.

We didn't really have hand-to-hand combat lessons at camp, mainly because if it came down to a fist fight between you and a monster, the latter would probably win the fight. It didn't matter to me. I used to be that kid, that kid that got kicked out of multiple schools, that kid who had to defend himself against bullies who called him retarded, that kid from the poorer side of New York. I tapped into that kid as I let loose of all inhibitions.

All I could see was red. I let my fists fly, punching him in the face, giving him body shots, not stopping for breath. I alternated fists over and over again, making him pay. He would pay for hurting her.

My hair was covering my eyes but I didn't care. I just kept hitting flesh, hoping it was his.

I could hear yells and screams in the background but I also didn't care. It was as if I was underwater. Everything else was a distant gurgle that couldn't touch me, didn't affect me.

Then I was pulled back. One second I was letting loose, the next I was on the ground. I was still blindly swinging, and a couple of burly campers had to hold me and literally carry me to the big house while I cursed him the whole way.

They dropped me in the parlor. I was still seething, so I started pacing, my fists still clenched.

How dare he? He got what was coming to him, that was for sure. He should've never spoken to Annabeth like that, should've never said those lies; I wouldn't let anyone dishonor her.

I knew I would break something in anger, so I sat down in a chair and tried to calm down.

A door opened and closed. It was her. She walked up and stood in front of me. I searched her face to see if she was upset. There was a trace of concern in her expression before it turned serious. Always so serious.

I looked up at her from the chair. "Are you OK?"

Her expression didn't change but her lips flickered the slightest. "Are you OK?" she asked, throwing my question back in my face.

I shrugged. She took my fists in her hands and I hissed when she tried to open them.

The first thing you learned in fighting was to not always aim for the face. Anywhere on the body was game, but the face had so few soft spots that you'd likely hurt yourself more than your opponent. It was amateur of me, but I didn't care. It was so worth it.

"I think your knuckles are broken," she murmured. I shook my head. Nothing a little nectar wouldn't fix.

"Where is he?" I needed to know.

It was her turn to shrug. "He fled from camp. Chiron thinks he was sent from Kronos. To antagonize."

I thought about it. "I don't think so. Kronos would've ordered him to kill me. At least."

She stayed quiet. I wondered what she was thinking about, until all coherent thoughts ceased when she brought my knuckles up to her lips for a delicate kiss on each.

It was a surprisingly intimate thing to do, yet it felt like something my Mom would do when I got hurt as a kid. I knew she was trying to say 'thank you'. Her eyes were shining.

I wanted nothing more than to kiss her in that moment and for a second, I thought she wanted it too. I probably would've kissed her if our friends hadn't decided that now was a perfect time to check up on us.

He wasn't the first dude to hurt her, nor would he be the last. But I vowed to myself to protect her when the next one tried. No one was going to hurt my Annabeth.


	7. A Dance

**Whew! Two in a row, chickens! And this one is (almost) an actual drabble!**

**I meant to point out- the songs for this fic are It's Time by Imagine Dragons, She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5, Leave Out All The Rest by Linkin Park, Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran, Drops of Jupiter by Train, Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's and I Can't Help Myself by The Four Tops. I bump to these everytime a write a new chapter. Them plus Percabeth just makes me feel so mushy inside :)**

* * *

Gods she looked pretty. Sure, she wasn't dressed up much or anything. She was just beautiful like that. The other girls were wearing their normal getup as well, but Annabeth looked... wow.

With the world ending and all, it had been decided that we should have something to boost our morale. A dance, or party if you will. Apparently the ancient Greeks partied all the time before war, though they left that part out of our history lessons.

The protests were unanimous. Why should we party, when we should be preparing for battle? There was so much to do, so many more we could rally, so many more weapons we could make, instead of wasting our time doing trivial things like _having fun_.

But Mr. D put his foot down. I would've thought he, of all people should be the most against this, being a god and all. He's seen firsthand what horrors we would face, even if he wasn't around for the first titan war. We were preparing to defend _his_ seat of power. Shoot, he wasn't even at camp when he sent the verdict. He was off doing godly things, only stopping to bother us with an Iris-Message. Surely he wouldn't care if we were having a party or not.

He was resilient though, demanding we go off and have fun. He said it would drive us to madness if all we worried about was war war war all the time. A party would help. He, being the god of both, knows best apparently.

So that's how I found myself in the arena, on Friday night, listening to bad pop songs and drinking too-sweet strawberry lemonade.

The Aphrodite cabin was in charge of decorations, and it was a little too... girly for my liking. I mean, I knew there were guys in the cabin, but why did everything have to be about love with them? And why did love's colors have to be red and pink and white?

The party, surprisingly didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought. Sliena and Beckendorf seemed to be the only couple dancing. Everyone else was either single or embarrassed. I saw Beckendorf's face and felt a twinge of sympathy. Poor guy. If he wasn't head over heels for Silena...

My eyes kept drifting over to Annabeth. She had her normally down hair in some up do style, her curls falling down her face and neck. Instead of her camp half-blood t-shirt she wore a plain blue one with the words "worlds best architect" on it, a gift from her father. She kept looking at the door, as if she couldn't wait to leave. I hoped it wasn't because of me.

Lately, our friendship had been anything but friendly. And while sometimes she was a little more difficult to be around than some other girls I've been keeping company with, I still cared about her. I would still die for her. I would still kill... for her.

The party reminded me of a time when things were easier, when my 16th birthday seemed like a distant obstacle. Now it was starting to seem more like an approaching nightmare. When this whole thing with Annabeth was nonexistent. When she and I had danced and talked like the best friends we were. I longed for a time like that.

The Stoll brothers were deejaying the party, which was hilarious. They were more of commentators than anything. The final songs of the night rolled around, and I figured now was a good time as any.

Feeling brave, I approached her for the first time in weeks. I held her eyes. Were they always so stormy? Gods, I was seriously starting to sound like a sap.

I meant to say something out of a movie like "Would you care for a dance?". Only the word "dance" came out (more like squeaked out). I kept my gaze level and unwavering though, which made me seem confident... hopefully.

She couldn't refuse me without making a scene, but I'd like to say she took my hand because she actually wanted to dance with me. I mirrored our position from all those years ago: hand on hip and hand in hers. Her palm was warmer than I remembered it being.

_Sugar pie honey bunch,_

_you know that I love you._

_I can't help myself_

_I love you and nobody else_

We swayed to the song. It was a bit awkward at first. I mean, we haven't spoken to each other and suddenly we were dancing together. Not to mention the lyrics brought a blush to my face. But I hummed along to a song my mom probably listened to as a kid. Right? It was old, and so was she. Like velcro old.

"So... been working on any good projects lately?"

Her eyes lit up and her smile was warm. "You'd never believe the stuff I found on Daedulus's laptop the other day." Then she went into a talk about cylindrical doohickeys and metal rafts and support beams. Her excitement was infectious- even if some of the stuff she said was hard to understand. I was happy for her.

The oldies song ended and faded into something more modern: Linkin Park. I twirled her around and heard her laugh for the first time in weeks. It was lovely.

I could feel some eyes on us, but I didn't care. Who was I to be self-conscious? When you lived like I did, you didn't know which day could be your last. I had a titan coming after me for the gods sake. I couldn't afford to be doubtful of anything. It was one of the few things I enjoyed about not being normal.

"I like this song," she whispered. I pulled her closer, and she rested her head against my shoulder. And I realized- I liked it too. I liked it a lot.


End file.
